Random

~ MissionEquip.com is a terrific portal and resource center for people who do Christian ministry abroad -- and those who support them. They have a blogger section which among other things draws on syndicated material from missionary bloggers. Take a look. Get in touch with them if their project grabs you.

~ New study: 15% of US adults have neither cell phones nor an Internet connection. And it sounds like they mostly prefer it that way. Luddites. :-)

~ Have they discovered King Herod's tomb? Herod, who died in 4 BC, was one of Israel's cruelest rulers.

~ It is being reported that there are between 60,000 and 80,000 Base Communities still active in Brazil. How is it then ,with so much "small group ministry," that the country continues to slide into secular anarchy? Roman Catholicism is definitely on the decline. The Pope is on the way, hoping to carry out a rescue mission.

~ To keep the flames down Francis Beckwith, who recently became a Roman Catholic then resigned as president of the Evangelical Theological Society, has gone a step further and resigned altogether from ETS. While that's unfortunate (a lost opportunity for some true dialog) I appreciate his desire for peace.

~ Meanwhile, in the old country, a soccer game between priests and imams was canceled because they couldn't agree on whether women should be allowed to play. When my grandfather left Sweden in 1920 there probably weren't any imans in the country. And there certainly weren't female priests. But if there had been they would have set-up a hockey match (the new sport which was catching on like wildfire) rather than soccer. Lots of change.

~ Jim Bakker 20 years later. New place, new wife -- old familiar sounding story.

~ If gas is averaging $3.48/gallon in California I think we got out just in time. Out here in the middle of nowhere we're only paying $3.23/gallon.

~ Wal-Mart, in the process of morphing from red, white, and blue to green, is doing some serious rewiring of their facilities. Their new solar power project at 22 sites "is estimated to be as much as 20 million kWh per year, and the aggregate purchase could be one of the US, if not the world's, top-10 largest solar power initiatives."

~ Is Tom Wright the most influential New Testament scholar among emerging church leaders? Probably. And for good reason. Wright speaks to the postmodern mind in a very reasoned manner.

~ Pie throwing in Colorado church service.